Shaving device



G. DALKOWITZ SHAVINGDEVIGE Filed July 31, 1937 ATTORN EY Patented Nov.11, 1941 SHAVING DEVICE Godfrey Dalkowitz, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor toAmerican Safety Razor Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation ofVirginia.

Application July 31, 1937, Serial No. 156,726 h 6 Claims. (01.304120 Mypresent invention relates to shaving instruments generally referred toasdry shavers and in which the shaving operation is effected without theuse of creams, detergents or fluids.

Dry shaversgenerally function upon the clipper principle in that thehairs to be shaved are led into a channel or opening in a relativelystationary member and there clipped short by a second member movedrelatively to the stationary member. This is the principlewhich isemployed for animal shearing, hair cutting and other similar clippingoperations. The employment of this clipper principle for shavingpurposes, presents many problems, such as the sensitiveness of the faceto irritation, the irregularities of its contours, the varying lengthsof the hairs to be out,

the tendency of hairs to curl and to hug the face,

and the requisite for a satisfactory shave; that nevertheless all thehairs shall be clippedclose to the face without burning, cutting orotherwise irritating the face and that the shaving'operation shall beelfected in a minimum of time.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide a dry shaver in whichthese problems will have been met and solved.

the spaces between the teeth of the stationary member of the dryshavercan be more effectively attained by making the guard or comb member as aseparate and independent entity and then associating it with a dryshaver by an assembly operation.

While the British patent to Appleyard 753 of 1913 discloses a guard orcomb member associated with and positioned laterally of the dry shaver,it will be observed as this specification is read, that Appleyard didnotcontemplate any I such p'redetermination of the character of theslots in his comb or guard as is herein-disclosed and therefore thebenefits that flow from the re1a-- tionship herein disclosed of suchslots to the spaces betweenthe teeth in the stationary cutter of faceengaging plate.

The slots which I provide in the comb or guard comprise anouter portionand an inner portion. The outer portion is relatively of a substantiallength and of such width as to admit increments of flesh as the shaveris moved across the face.

I have herein illustrated my invention' as embodied in or associatedwith a clipper of the type used for shearing and hair cutting purposes,and in which the stationary and the movable member are each providedwith spaced laterallyprojeoting teeth and the two are soassociated thatupon the relative movement therebetween, the teeth of the latter willpass by those of the other to clip any hairs entering the space betweenthe teeth of the stationary member, as the shaver is moved across thefacef: In this type of clipper, the relative movement between the twomembers is generally a reciprocation in a straight line,

' reference being had to the conventional hair clipper used by a barber.It will be understood, however, that this mannerof illustration of onefeature of my invention has been for the purpose of compliance with thatportion of the statutes that require thedisclosure of at least oneembodiment of my invention.

To attain the aforementioned object, I provide an arrangement wherebythemovement of:

the dry shaver across theface Willcause the hairs to be picked up as itwere, straightened out, and

then guided into the space between the teeth of the stationary member,and in accordance with my invention, this provision takes the form of aslotted guard or comb associated with andposi- ,tioned laterally of theends of the teeth in the stationary member and the slots of which are ofa predetermined character and related predeterminately to the spacesbetween the teeth of the "stationary member. I have found that thispredetermination of the character er the slots in the guard memberand'tlieir relationshipto The inner portion is also relatively ofsubstantial length but of such restricted width as to exclude incrementsof flesh By this arrangement, in-

crements of flesh will be forced upwardly into f the outer parts of theslots as the shaver is moved across thexface. This action will cause thehairs to stand up as itwere very much as when a barber pinches anincrement of flesh between his thumband forefinger and then shaves thehair therefrom. Continued movement "of, the shaver across the face willbring each increment of flesh thus forced upwardly, against the narrowedinner portions of the slots which will force the flesh. outwardlytherefrom, however, leaving hairs thereon presented upstandinglytherethrough, to be guided thereby into. a space between the teeth inthe stationary member for a clipping operation by the moving cutter.

The effectiveness of the proper predetermination of the character ofslots is fully attained by properly relating the guard or comb to theslots in the stationary or comb member and for i .this' reason myinvention contemplates further that the guard member be .manufactured aa separate. element and associated with the shaver by an assemblyoperation so that the aforementionedpredetermined characteristics may bemore assuredly attained.

It is a further object of my invention to pro vide a dry shaver of partsso devised as to be capable of being manufactured economically and ofmaterials most effective from the standpoint of the manufacture and useof such parts and of being assembled expeditiously and inexpensively.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a dry shavercomprising among other things, a face engaging plate and a movable,

cutter to cooperate therewith, constructed and associated to functionefiiciently in the cutting of the hairs and also in the discharge of thecut hair.

It is a further object of my invention to provide, with a dry shavercomprising stationary and movable members cooperating for hair cuttingpurposes, separately formed guard and spac-- er members also associatedand constructed to facilitate the discharge of the cut hairs.

Among the general objects of my invention are: the provision, as anattachment to the face engaging plate of a dry shaver, of a separatelyformed guard member to be associated there with in hair guiding relationthereto and which.

when associated therewith, will guide the hair into the spaces formedbetween the shearing edges in the face plate and will do so Withoutirritating or burning the face; and more particularly, the provision forsuch purposes of a comb or guard member having slots comprisingrelatively wide and narrow portions; the provision of a dry shaver ofthe character referred to, having associated therewith and forming partthereof, a guard member of the character and for the purposes set forth;the provision of a new and useful dry shaver comprising parts which canbe made inexpensively and of materials serving most effectively from thestandpoint of the manufacture and use of these parts and of a design topermit of quick and inexpensive assembly of these parts and which, whenassembled, provide an efliciently functioning dry shaver; and theprovision in a dry shaver, of an arrangement whereby the cut hair andother debris are freely discharged from the razor and the danger ofclogging of the razor is eliminated and more particularly thisarrangement in a dry shaver provided with separately formed guards inabutting relation thereto as hereinafter more fully set forth.

For the attainment of these objectsand such other objects as willhereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated embodiments ofmy invention in the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a shaving head completelyassembled with guards or combs and mounted in a handle;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale substantially on theline 22 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 2A is a view similar to that of Figure 2 showing a modification;

Figure 3 is an exploded view on a scale larger than that of Figure 1showing in perspective the component parts of the assembly of Figure 1constituting the shaving head;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan of a part of the shaver;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, substantially onthe line 5-5 of Figure l; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing a slightly modified form.

It will be observed that in Figure 1, I show a shaving head A, mountedin a handle B. The latter feature does not constitute part of myinvention and may be dismissed with the general statement that it may beof any suitable or preferred type, such, for example, as a casing withinwhich may be positioned a source of motive power, such as an electricmotor, for imparting relative movement to the shaving head parts. Mypresent invention resides in the shaving head and in the guards or combsto be assembled therewith.

The shaving head has been illustrated as comprising generally a faceengaging plate H), a movable cutter 20 and the guard members 40associated therewith.

The face engaging plate i0 is generally elongated and in the embodimentherein disclosed, is provided with outwardly directed teeth I! along itslongitudinally extended edges. These teeth have been shown in Figure 4as of the hair clipper type in that the shearing edges are inclined andthe space therebetween is such as results from the inclination of theshearing edges. It will be understood, of course, as this specificationis read, that the showing of the teeth as of this clipper type has beenmerely for purposes of illustration of one shaver construction in whichmy invention may be embodied.

Projecting centrally downwardly from the centrally imperforate orunslotted portion of the face engaging plate is a longitudinallyextended rib M from each end of which extends downwardly a'leg l5provided with a perforation l6 all as and for the purposes to be shortlypointed out.

The movable cutter is shown at 20 in Figure 3, and comprises a centrallypositioned base member 2!, carrying two upwardly directed walls 22spaced apart a sufficient distance to freely receive therebetween therib l4 directed downwardly centrally of the face engaging member ID.Extending laterally from each of these two walls 2| are the cuttingteeth 24 which have been shown as fewer in number than the teeth on eachedge of the face engaging plate and in the drawing they have beenillustrated as being approximately one tooth in the movable cutter foreach two teeth on the stationary cutter. It will be observed that thelength of the member 2| is less than the distance between the inneropposed walls of the legs |5|5 extending downwardly from the faceengaging plate and also less than that of the walls 22. By thisarrangement the movable cutter can be associated with the face plate orstationary cutter, with the rib I l of the stationary cutter engaged inthe space between the two walls 22 of the movable cutter so that themovable cutter can be longitudinally reciprocated with reference to thestationary cutter. This is permitted by the relatively shorter length ofthe base 2| than that of the space between the legs |5 of the stationarycutter. The base member 2| has the cut-out portion 56 to receive one endof a reciprocating member 60 for givingto the movable cutter suchreciprocation.

Upon a reciprocation of the movable cutter the cutting operation iseffected in the following manner. As the shaver is moved across the facegenerally in the direction of the slots between the teeth that is, at anangle to the longest dimension of the face engaging plate, a hair guidedinto the space between two adjacent teeth I1, is engaged and cut orclipped between the shearing edges at the top of the teeth 24 of themovable cutter and the shearing edges at the bottom of the teeth ll ofthe stationary member. To effect this, it is necessary that the uppersurface or edges of the cutting teeth 24 be maintained in close contactwith the lower surfaces of the teeth H of the stationary cutter. Foraccomplishing this, and also for compensating for any wear due to suchcontact between the two sets of teeth, I have provided an arrangementsuch as that shown in Figure 5, wherein one or more pins 3| areemployed. Each pin is provided with a collar or flange 32 and has itsupper end 33 freely reface thereof. By this arrangement yieldingpressure will be applied to maintain the cutters in contact and the pinsin functioning for this purpose will be free to incline laterally withthe movement of the moving cutter.

Upon viewing Figure 2, it will be observed that the teeth I'I graduallytaper in thickness to a relatively thin edge. I accomplish this in theembodiment of Figure 2 by curvedly contouring the upper surface III ofthe face engaging plate including the laterally projected teeth along aradius of for example one inch in a dry shaver which is in theneighborhood of one-quarter inch in width, exclusive of the guards orcombs, as to cause the face engaging plate to be thickest at the centerand to gradually thin out towards the extreme ends of the teeth. In thisembodiment of Figure 2, the lower surface of the face engaging plate isflat and is engaged by the corresponding upper flat surface of themoving cutter 20. It will be understood that asimilar result can beattained by forming the upper surface of the member I of two surfaces ata shallow angle of for example 7 /2 to the horizontal and meeting at aline which coincides with thelongitudinal central line and in this formit is advisable to round off the top surface along thisapex line.

In the embodiment of Figure 2A, I arrive at a similar construction bymaking the upper surface I0 of the face engaging plate flat, and thelower surfaces I0 of the teeth I! inclining upwardly and outwardly at ashallow angle, such as l /2 to the horizontal and with a correspondinginclination to the upperedges 20 of the teeth of the movable cutter 20.

Upon reference to Figure 2, it will be observed that guard members 40are so assembled with a dry shaver such as that hereinabove described asto bring them into direct contact with the ends of the clipper teeth I!of the stationary cutter and upon viewing Figure 3 of the drawing, itwill be further observed that these guard members are provided withslots of the character to be described more in detail, which, in theirassembled relation, register with and open into the spaces between theteeth II of the stationary cutter. It will further be observed that thealternative or varied contours of the upper surface of the face engagingplate I0 including the teeth I! is continued into the upper surface ofthese guard members.

In order to maintain the guards in the aforementioned relationship tothe stationary cutter and in the relationship to-the movable cutter tobe hereinafter referred to, I employ spacer plates 50, one for eachside. Thesespacer plates have been illustrated in the drawing as locatedbelow the movable cutter and each as having a top Wall 5| which inclinesdownwardly in a lateral or outward direction. The two spacer plates andthe two guard members are perforated as shown at 53 and 54 so that whenthe spacer plates and the guard members are assembled laterally aboutthe downwardly projecting legs I5 of the face engaging plate, the bottomof all of these members and parts will be in a common plane as shownobject among others that I am enabled to select metals for the differentparts and to treat such metals so as to meet the requirements of eachpart and in this connection I will here state that in my'preferredmanner of manufacturing the face engaging plate I0 and its integratedparts comprising the rib I4 and the downwardly projecting legs I5, Imake the elements I5 separately from the face plate I0 and thenassociate the two by a process such as welding. In this manneriI amenabled to manufacture the elements I0 and I4 of tool steel, whichsubjects itself to a hardening process, and the element I5 of coldrolled or low carbon steel, which does not subject itself to a hardeningprocess by heat treatment, and in this manner the drilling of the holesI5 through the legs I5 is facilitated.

I will now describe the construction of my guard members whereby theyserve to guide hair into position to be clipped without irritating orburning the face. The guard members are slot: ted at their upper endsand it will be observed upon viewing Figure 4 in which I haveillustrated one specific manner of contouring and dimensioning the slotthat the slots so formed are composite in character and comprise aninner portion BI which is restricted and an outer portion 62 which iswidened. The width of the portion 62 is predeterminately such-as toadmit therethrough an increment of flesh whereas the width of theportionBI is predeterminately such as not to admit any increment of flesh but,however, such as to freely admit hair. Therefore, assuming the dryshaver as shown ,in Figure 2 as moving across the face, an increment offlesh will be received in the widened parts 62 of these slots of myguard member and forced upwardly therein but on the continued movementof the shaver, such increment of flesh will be forced out of the slot byand as it reaches the restricted portion GI. However, this operationwill cause any hairs carried by this increment of flesh to be correctlypositioned and extended for passage through the restricted portions GIand into the space between adjacent teeth II of the face engaging plateto be clipped off close to the skin, generally adjacent the extreme thinends of the teeth I1. I have found that the portion 6| if restricted atits exit (1. e. its inner) end to approximately a Widthof between .008to .012 inch and the portion 62 if restricted at its exit end to a widthof .020 to .035 inch, will serve my purpose effectively. I have alsodiscovered that to fully accomplish my objectives, the length of each ofthe portions GI and 62 of the slot should be substantial; for example, alength of the restricted portion 6| should preferably be somewherebetween .010 to .020

inch, and the length of the widened portion somewhere between .020 to.040 inch.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated the portions GI and 62 of the slots inthe guard member, each as defined by parallel walls and connected toeach other by inclined walls 65. In the modifled embodiment of Figure 6,I show an arrangement in which the widened portion 62' tapers graduallyfrom a maximum width at its entrance to the width of entrance mouth ofthe slot portion (W to have the free or advancend of they suihcientdepth to the slots and this I accomplish by the provision of theoverhanging flanges 43 which will serve advantageously in the shavingoperation.

Reference will now be had to Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing to show mymanner of providing for the discharge of'cut hairs. It will be observedthat the relationship and contours of the movable cutter and the spacermembers 50 are such as to provide a space H freely open to the spacesbetween the teeth of the movable cutter and that this space which isgenerally triangular with the base or lower side formed by the insidewall of the guard member 40 has its apex or widest portion below thecutter and its bottom wall (the inclined top wall 5! of the spacermembers) inclined downwardly outwardly and opening exteriorly of theshaver through openings 13 provided in the guard members, the lowerwalls 15 of these openings being inclined and in effect a continuationof the inclined top wall of the spacer member. This construction willserve to efiectively discharge the cut hairs from the shaver through theopenings 13. The inclination of the outer walls 16 of the guard membersserves to assist in-the discharge of the cut hairs and also in theformation of the overhanging flange 43.

In order to reinforce the shaver parts, I may provide ridges or raisedportions 80 at the ends of the member H] and similarly widened portion8| at the ends of the guard, in registry with the raised portions 80.

By making the guards or combs as separate members I am enabled to moreclosely control the slot formation therein and in this connectionattention is invited to Figure 4 in which the width of the space betweenthe teeth ll projecting from the stationary member at its mouth is shownas slightly greater than that of the exit or adjacent end of therestricted portion 6| of the related slot in the guard or comb 40. Bythis arrangement, with the slot formation in the guard closelycontrolled, there is not the necessity for so closely controlling thespacing between the teeth I! of the stationary cutter because there canbe quite a substantial tolerance permitted in the last mentioned spacingwithout causing the teeth IT to obstruct the passage of hair from theslots in the comb into the space between the teeth I! of the stationarycutter or to present a projection which will irritate or burn the face.

While I have herein disclosed my invention in connection with details ofconstruction of certain embodiments, it will be understood that this isdone merely for illustrative purposes and that it is not intended thatthe scope of my invention shall be limited thereby unless and insofar assuch limitations are called for by the prior art.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination in a dry shaver of a stationary cutting member and amovable cutting ing ends of the guard teeth relatively more" member, thestationary cutting member having cutting teeth thereon spaced from eachother by slots, a guard member provided with teeth registering with andin sufficiently close adjacency to the teeth of the stationary cuttingmember as to exclude skin and hair from the intervening space, saidteeth of the guard member being spaced by slots leading into the slotsof the stationary cutting member and the inner portions of the guardmember slots being narrower than the adjacent outer portions of thestationary cutting member slots.

2. The combination in a dry shaver of a stationary cutting member and amovable cutting member, the stationary cutting member having cuttingteeth thereon spaced from each other by slots, a guard member providedwith teeth registering with and in relatively close adjacency to theteeth of the stationary cutting member, said teeth of the guard memberbeing spaced by slots leading into the slots of the stationary cuttingmember and the inner portions of the guard member slots being narrowerthan the adjacent outer portions of the stationary cutting member slots,and said guard member slots having their outer portions wider than theirinner portions.

3. The combination in a dry shaver of a stationary cutting member and amovable cutting member, the stationary cutting member having cuttingteeth thereon spaced from each other by slots, a guard member providedwith teeth registering with and in relatively close adjacency to theteeth of the stationary cutting member, said teeth of the guard memberbeing spaced by slots leading into the slots of the stationary cuttingmember and the inner portions of the guard member slots being narrowerthan the adjacent outer portions of the stationary cutting member slots,and said guard member slots and said cutting member slots having theirouter portions wider than their inner portions.

4. The combination in a dry shaver of a stationary cutting member and amovable cutting member, the stationary cutting member having cuttingteeth thereon, a guard member having teeth registering with and inrelatively close adjacency to the ends of said stationary member cuttingteeth, and the guard member teeth being wider than the stationarycutting member teeth at their adjacent portions.

5. The combination in a dry shaver of a stationary cutting member and amovable cutting member, the stationary cutting member having cuttingteeth thereon, a guard member having teeth registering with andrelatively closely adjoining the ends of said stationary member cuttingteeth, and the guard member teeth being wider than the stationarycutting member teeth at their abutting portions, and said guard memberteeth tapering outwardly as viewed in plan.

6. A shaver head having a stationary portion constituted by fivevertically disposed layers of material, the central one having a cut-outportion therein, a transversely disposed toothed shear plate carried atthe upper end of said central layer, the two-outermost layersconstituting guard sections for the shear plate, and the two remaininglayers being of restricted width and so positioned as to leave a spacebetween the guard and the central layer, and below the shear plate, anda movable cutter mounted for movement in said space.

GODFREY DALKOWITZ.

